To Boldy Go
by weezerz2490
Summary: Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her five-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before. (Sequel to 'Out of Darkness')


**Author's note:** Here it is, the sequel to 'Out of Darkness'. This particular story is more of a series, based on re-writes of the original TV episodes set in the Abramsverse. It will also focus more on the other characters (not just Prima and Khan) this time, because it's just as much about the journey as it is about how they earn the right to have their own planet to settle with the other augments who are still sleeping. Obviously, some of the adventures will be taking place in a different order or replaced with new ones, since there were references made in the movies that implied some of them had already occurred, but I will try to cover everyone's favorite episodes and keep in the spirit of the movies and the original series. I hope you like it! Please let me know if you have any ideas or recommendations of your own. Thanks reading!

I own nothing but my OC.

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**_[[ Where No Man Has Gone Before: Part 1 ]]_**

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_[Captain's log, stardate 2260. 27. So far our five-year journey has gotten off to a slow but smooth start, with the exception of that incident almost a month ago with the large, rodent-like creatures of planet Dimorus (or as Prima prefers to call them, R.O.U.S.'s). Our 'civilian consultants', Miss Primavera Dempsey and Mr. Khan Noonien Singh, have managed to settle in with the rest of the crew with relative ease, despite any misgivings or prejudices the crew might have initially held against him. It's still early in the game, but so far our superhuman parolee has proved to be a very useful and cooperative addition to this crew. I hopefully he will continue to remain so in the future.]_

"Checkmate." Prima said, smirking victoriously, as she captured Kirk's king, bringing an end to their game of 3D chess. She didn't usually care much for chess, but playing with Kirk was fun since it came with witty banter and clever smack talking included. Some people took the game too seriously, which tended to suck the fun out of it. "Sorry, Captain. You put up a good fight, but that's the way the cookie crumbles." She told him, lounging casually in her chair, as if it were a throne and she was the queen of games, which she was.

"I should have moved my rook." Kirk said regretfully. He nearly had her this time. "Rematch, Prima, now. That's an order." He commanded playfully, smiling ruefully at her.

"What a gross misuse of authority!" Prima declared with mock outrage, smiling wryly. "This is already our fourth game in a row. I'm tired of beating you. Why don't you play Mr. Spock?"

"He turned me down." Kirk replied, shrugging. "I think my 'illogical' moves get on his nerves."

"Only because they help you win against his logical stratagems." Prima said, sharing a knowing grin with him. "I imagine it must have been quite vexing for him, losing that way."

"Oh, speak of the devil." Kirk remarked when the nearest ship's intercom whistled to get their attention, causing several other crewmembers currently in the rec room to glance over at their captain curiously. "Go ahead, Mr. Spock." Kirk said, answering the call, knowing it couldn't be anyone else since he had left his friend in charge on the bridge.

"Captain, we have intercepted a distress beacon of a most curious nature." Spock informed him over the speaker. "Your presence is requested on the bridge."

"All right, I'm on my way." Kirk replied, signing off. "Looks like our rematch will have to wait." He told Prima, standing up to leave.

"That's fine by me. I should probably be getting back to work, too. Depending on the situation, Dr. McCoy may require my assistance in the med bay." She replied, also standing. She had put the months following Khan's trial to good use by earning herself a nursing degree. She had minored in a few other social and life sciences, too, just to make sure she would look well-rounded enough to Starfleet to continue to be of value. The degrees had been more of a formality, really. Thanks to having tested out of most of the courses, she had managed to complete her medical degree in record time, and she was now up to date on most of the modern medical advances that had been made over the last 300 years.

"Good idea. Ask him to come up to the bridge when you see him." Kirk told her as he headed for the turbo lift. Once there, he found Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell and Lieutenant Lee Kelso already pressing the button for the lift. "Going up?" Kirk asked.

"Yes, Sir. We're on our way to start our shifts on the bridge." Kelso replied. They were on their way to relieve Sulu and Chekov so the two of them could have a break.

"Still can't get over calling you 'sir'." Mitchell told Kirk, smiling wryly. "Feels like only yesterday I was helping you out with your academy homework, and we were hanging out at after classes, having a beer and taking turns playing each other's wingman."

"Not to mention, we were a year ahead of you." Kelso added.

"I remember." Kirk said, grinning a little. The three of them had become fast friends during his years at Starfleet Academy. "That's why, when I learned you had been on the _Excalibur_ and were looking for a post on a ship that would be less traumatic to your health, I personally saw to it that you would be brought on board."

"Filling the crew with your friends?" Kelso asked, smiling wryly.

"Captain's prerogative." Kirk retorted, smirking.

"And yet… we're still just the back ups to Sulu and the Russian kid." Mitchell commented sardonically.

"They _earned_ their jobs, believe me." Kirk told him. "And I didn't bring you aboard to be my friends. I brought you aboard because when I'm on the bridge, I need to be surrounded by the _best._ Backups or not." He added, glancing back at his friends, as the lift's doors opened. "Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Kelso, to your stations." He ordered them as he stepped onto the bridge. "What've we got, Mr. Spock?" He asked, approaching his first science officer, who was seated at his station, engrossed in whatever he was currently examining.

"Thanks for the relief, Mitchell." Sulu said as he vacated his station at the helm. "I'm going to sleep for a thousand years."

"Sweat dreams, Mr. Sulu." Mitchell replied with a slight smirk.

"Captain," Spock said, turning to share his findings, "the distress signal we intercepted is from the _SS Valiant_."

"The _Valiant_?" Kirk asked, furrowing his brow, as he leaned in to take a closer look at the data on Spock's screen. "She disappeared two hundred years ago!"

"Indeed. And there is still no sign of the ship, just the beacon. I am attempting to access the beacon's data recorder remotely." Spock explained.

WOOSH.

The doors to the turbolift opened again, revealing Dr. McCoy and the attractive blonde who was accompanying him. She was also clad in the blue uniform of the sciences department.

"You wanted to see me, Jim?" The doctor asked as they joined him on the bridge.

"Bones." Kirk greeted the older man pleasantly before glancing appraisingly at the woman beside him, wondering who she was and why he hadn't been introduced to her sooner. "And…?"

"This is Dr. Dehner. She joined the ship when we made that stop over at the Aldebaron colony a few days ago." McCoy explained, introducing them.

"Oh, I see… What's your field, Doctor?" Kirk asked her curiously.

"Psychology, Captain." She replied, smiling confidently. "My assignment is to study crew reaction in emergency conditions. If there was an emergency, I'd be interested in how that crew reacted, too."

"Well, improving the breed. Is that your line, Doctor?" Mitchell inquired flirtatiously, flashing her a winning smile.

"I heard that's more your specialty, Commander." Dehner replied coolly, turning her back on him. "Line included." Mitchell raised an eyebrow before turning back around to face the control panel.

"Walking freezer unit." He muttered to Kelso, just loud enough for Dehner and a few others to hear. McCoy shook his head at them. Some things never changed.

"I'm getting something…" Spock said, getting their attention. He raised a hand to his earpiece. "Ships logs, fragmented, but… it appears their mission was similar to ours, exploring the galaxy's edge in this same quadrant. They took severe damage from… _something_…" He said, furrowing his brow as he continued to listen to the data records. "Seven crewmen dead… No, make that _six_. One seems to have _recovered._ Wait, this must be garbled… it does not make sense… Something about _extra-sensory perception_… The captain is frantic. He is giving an order… for the ship to _self-destruct_." Spock finished, showing a hint of confusion and concern in his eyes, as he glanced up at Kirk. Kirk frowned, not liking what he had just heard.

"Neutralize warp, Mr. Mitchell. Hold this position." Kirk ordered.

"Warp neutralized, Sir." Mitchell reported as the ship slowed to a stop, idling in place on the edge of the galaxy.

"Dr. Dehner, how are you on ESP?" Kirk asked.

"In tests I've taken, my ESP rated rather high." She replied, stepping forward. While that was an interesting tidbit of information, that hadn't been what the captain had meant.

"I'm asking what you _know_ about ESP." Kirk clarified patiently.

"It is a fact that some people can sense future happenings, read the backs of playing cards and so on." Dr. Dehner said, taking a breath. She was a little embarrassed that she had jumped the gun like that, but she had always held a certain fascination for the field of parapsychology. "But the esper capacity is always quite limited."

"Comments?" He asked Bones, the only other medical professional in the room.

"Well, the only fact we know for sure is that the _SS Valiant_ was destroyed." McCoy replied, glancing briefly at Dehner. Personally, he didn't believe in all that mumbo-jumbo, but then again, stranger things have happened, and it was a fact that some alien species were capable of telepathy to a certain extent, like the Vulcans with their mind-melds.

"That's probably the best argument to continue the probe." Kirk said thoughtfully.

_"It is?"_ McCoy asked incredulously. Was Jim out of his corn-fed mind_!_?

"Other vessels will be heading out here some day, and they'll have to know what they'll be facing. We're leaving the galaxy, Mr. Mitchell." Kirk said decisively, leaving no room for argument. "Ahead warp factor one." Kirk sat down in his captain's chair, watching the screen carefully as they proceeded forward. The tension on the bridge grew thick, reaching a climax when a seemingly endless stretch of some sort of strange, purple energy came into view.

"It appears to be a force field of some kind." Spock informed them, reading the data coming in to his station from the ships sensors.

"We're coming up on it fast." Mitchell reported, a fact they could all see for themselves as the ship continued to speed towards the ominous anomaly. Kirk nodded at Spock.

"Sensor beam on." Kirk ordered.

"Sensor beam on, Sir." Kelso replied dutifully, flipping the switch.

"Deflectors, full intensity." Kirk commanded next.

"Deflectors full intensity." Mitchell replied, activating them.

"Deflectors say there is something there. Sensors say there isn't." Spock reported, reading the instruments. "Density: negative. Radiation: negative. Energy: negative."

"Whatever it is, contact in twelve seconds." Kelso announced a little nervously. They all braced themselves as they entered the strange field, expecting the worse. But so far, so good. Everything seemed to be just fine. There wasn't even the slightest bit of turbulence or resistance. Just when they were all ready to breathe a sigh of relief, the lights began to flicker.

_FLASH—CRACK!_

A bright burst of blinding white light flashed before the screen and crackle of energy, like the zap of electricity was heard. It was suddenly like they had flown into a storm, and that was all the warning they had before sparks started flying out various control panels. One or two even exploded.

"Emergency stations! All decks on fire alert." Kirk ordered.

"Yes, Sir." Uhura replied, quickly opening a line to the rest of the ship to conveying his orders.

"Neutralize the controls! Kelso, put it on manual!" Kirk continued to issue orders, concerned for the safety of his crew as their equipment continued to malfunction, and the navigation console began to smoke. "Any radiation? Anything?" He asked Spock.

"Negative!" Spock shouted over the noise.

"Helmsman, take us out of here!" Kirk ordered Mitchell.

_ZAAPPPP!_

Dr. Dehner's eyes widened with surprise and pain when she was suddenly struck by the intense sensation of being shocked by some sort of electro-magnetic current.

"Dr. Dehner!" McCoy shouted in alarm when the woman beside him suddenly crumpled to her knees and began seizing. Mitchell glanced over his shoulder, trying to see if she was okay, but he too was abruptly struck by the same mysterious force.

_ZAAPPPP!_

Mitchell fell from his chair, hitting the floor with a rather loud and ominous thud.

"Gary!" Kelso cried out in alarm, moving to check on the unconscious man.

"Stay at your station, Mr. Kelso!" Kirk shouted sternly as he rushed over to the empty helm, keeping the ship steady, momentarily squashing his own concern for their friend. They had to get the ship to safety first. Right now all of their lives were in danger. "Later power!" Spock ran over to relieve the captain, taking control of the helm. Kirk retreated to his captain's chair, relieved, when Spock and Kelso managed to bring the ship out safely out of the dangerous field of whatever it was they were dealing with. "Well done." Kirk praised them. "Take damage reports." He ordered before moving to check on the injured, leaving Spock to handle the reports. He noticed McCoy was tending to the unconscious Gary. Dr. Dehner was lying on the floor, holding her head. McCoy had already finished checking her over. She seemed to be dazed, but at least she was awake. Kirk would start with her.

"What happened? Are you all right?" He asked, kneeling down beside her.

"Something hit me, like an electrical charge." She told him, feeling a bit weak. She could barely even make herself sit up.

"He's alive." McCoy reported as he came over to join them, referring to Mitchell. He knew Jim would want to know. "But he appears to be in shock."

"Engineering Deck Three, can you give damage report?" Kelso asked.

"The sensor beams. Full power on the deflectors." Kirk heard Khan's voice reply over the speaker. He shook his head. It still felt weird to hear that man's voice on his ship sometimes. He stood up and went to check on Gary.

"Captain." Spock called as he passed by. "The main engines are out. We are on emergency power cells." He updated Kirk without needing to be asked as Khan continued giving his report to Kelso in the background. "The casualties reported so far are nine confirmed dead. Our gravity is down to .8." Kirk nodded in understanding before turning and kneeling down next to Gary, who was still lying prone on the floor.

"Gary. Gary, are you all right?" Kirk asked concerned, trying to rouse his old friend.

"I-I'm a little weak for some reason, Jim…" Gary said groggily, starting to come out of it. Kirk helped him roll onto his back so he wouldn't be stuck facedown, practically kissing the floor. "But I think I'll be all right now…" Gary continued, opening his eyes to reveal that they had transformed. They were now a glowing, iridescent silver. They didn't look human.

"Bones!" Kirk called for the doctor, disturbed by the sudden change that had come over his friend.

"My God!" Bones gasped when he saw what all the fuss was about. "Nurse!" McCoy shouted at one of several medical personnel that had been dispatched to respond to the emergency. "Come, quick. We need to get this man to med bay, _stat_."

—∞—

**Engineering Deck 3**

"Are you all right?" Prima asked Khan as she rushed over, making a beeline to him, while the other nurses who had accompanied her began tending to the other injured crewmembers. While he had been reporting damages to Mr. Spock, another crewman had called in to med bay requesting medical assistance. He had mentioned five were dead on their level, but hadn't said who.

"Yes, I'm fine." He reassured her reaching out to gently tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear for her. "I only sustained a few superficial scrapes, which, as you can see, have already healed themselves." He explained, gesturing to the small amounts of dried blood on his otherwise unblemished skin, where several cuts used to be from when one of the panels exploded and sent a few shards flying. "But perhaps you should take a look at Mr. Scott. He has a rather nasty gash on his forehead, and I think he may even have a concussion. Mr. Keenser is with him now."

"All right, lead the way." She said, furrowing her brow slightly with concern for the chief engineer. Prima liked Scotty, and Khan seemed to like him too, or he at least respected the Scotsman's skills as a fellow engineer enough to submit to him as a subordinate. And that was a huge compliment on Khan's part. "I'll get him patched up." She sad determinedly.

—∞—

_[Captain's log, stardate 2260. 29. Ship's condition: heading back on impulse power only. The main engines are burned out. Not even Scotty and Khan can fix them without the necessary replacement parts. The ship's warp ability is gone. Earth bases which were only days away are now years in the distance. Our overriding question now what destroyed the _Valiant_? They lived through the barrier, just as we have. What happened to them after that?]_

Fortunately, most of the injuries, aside from the nine deaths, had been relatively minor and were only caused by malfunctioning and short-circuiting equipment. Unfortunately, this also meant there was a lot of repair work that needed to be done, and his chief engineer, Scotty, had only just been released from med bay after being kept under observation by McCoy and Prima to make sure his concussion didn't suddenly worsen because he ignored their orders to get some rest. As a result, Khan and Chekov had stepped up to the plate to help. Khan had been supervising the repair efforts down in engineering, while Chekov organized the repairs being conducted on the bridge. Although Scotty had finally been able to return to work after two days, others were not so lucky. The condition of Mitchell's eyes hadn't changed. Kirk strolled past the young Russian boy-genius and Kelso, who were currently working on rewiring the helm and navigation controls, and approached Spock at his science station, to see what he was up to. Spock was in the process of examining the medical records of the affected crewmembers, trying to figure out why only some of them had been affected by the strange phenomena, while the majority of them hadn't. He was reviewing Dr. Dehner's file at the moment. Everything was normal until they reached the part about her ESP rating from a test that had been performed by Starfleet Medical. She had a high rating with an apperception quotient of 20/100. Next up was Mitchell. His rating was even higher, with an apperception quotient of 20/104, the highest of all the crewmembers onboard. Was this why he was the only one who had suffered any obvious physical changes?

WOOSH.

Kirk turned as Prima stepped onto the bridge.

"I've got the autopsy reports." She said, holding out the PADD she had uploaded it onto for him to review. Since the living had been their first priority, she and McCoy had only just finished conducting them. "Each case showed damage to the body's neural circuit. An area of the brain's right hemisphere was burned out."

"And what about Dr. Dehner and Gary?" Kirk asked, taking the PADD.

"Dr. Dehner seems to be all right. Dr. McCoy was just getting ready to release her as I left to bring you this. Mitchell, too, apart from his eyes." Prima replied, smiling apologetically. She knew Kirk was worried about his friend, despite his calm façade, and he hated losing crewmembers, whatever the reason. "We're trying to find a reason for that now, and why, out of the whole crew, only certain people were affected."

"I think we have found that answer, Miss Dempsey." Spock said, turning around to face the two humans. "Captain, I believe it is time for us to have a word with Dr. Dehner."

—∞—

"Dr. Dehner." Kirk called out when he spotted the attractive psychiatrist stepping out of the med bay, having just been discharged. "Glad we caught you."

"Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock." Dr. Dehner said, pausing to turn and face the two men and Prima. "And Nurse Dempsey… Dr. McCoy just released me. I was on my way to inform you that I was fit for duty."

"I'm glad to hear it, Doctor." Kirk replied pleasantly. "But we would like to ask you a few questions first, if you don't mind." He added, getting down to business.

"Not at all. How can I be of service?" Dr. Dehner asked.

"In your file it said you not only participated in tests and studies of other esper-oriented beings, but you're also in the process of publishing a thesis on the relation between these results and the ESP shown in some humans." Spock stated. "We would like to hear your professional opinion, as someone who is already familiar with this subject and as a psychologist on the following observation: You mentioned earlier that tests showed that you have a high degree of extrasensory perception. The records of the others showed the same. Every crewmember affected by the same phenomena you and Mr. Mitchel experienced had an ESP score that was well above average. In fact, Gary Mitchell has the highest esper rating of all."

"Now, hold on, if you're suggesting there's anything dangerous—" Dr. Dehner began defensively.

"Before the _Valiant_ was destroyed, it's captain was frantically searching for ESP information on his crew." Kirk reminded her. There was no way that was just a coincidence.

"But, sir, espers are simply people with flashes of _insight_." Dr. Dehner insisted.

"Are there not also those who seem to be capable of seeing through solid objects and causing instances of spontaneous combustion in the environment around them?" Spock asked pointedly.

Prima glanced at the Vulcan curiously. She remembered reading about something like that in one of the Time-Life Books series, 'Mysteries of the Unknown', that she had owned back in the 80s, but most professionals had just dismissed it as a hoax back then. Apparently the people of the future thought otherwise. Prima was beginning to feel as though she had walked into an episode of _The Twilight Zone_.

"There's nothing about it that could possibly make a person dangerous." Dr. Dehner said stubbornly, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

Prima raised an eyebrow at that. What part of possibly having a firestarter on their ship wasn't dangerous? Even if the person didn't mean any harm, well… accidents happened.

"Dr. Dehner is speaking of normal ESP power." Spock remarked, exchanging a glance with Kirk.

"Oh, perhaps you know of another kind?" The doctor retorted rather saucily.

"Do we know for sure that_, Doctor,_ that there isn't another kind?" Kirk asked meaningfully, giving her a warning look, silently reminding her of the seriousness of their situation. With the ship's current condition, they were years away from help if anything should go wrong.

—∞—

**Med Bay**

"I've never had a patient like you before, Gary." McCoy told the lieutenant-commander as he finished his latest examination of the unusual patient. Well, no _normal_ human patient, at least. He had seen similar readings for Khan and Prima, but that was a horse of a different color. "Even the healthiest are generally off on some reading."

"Hello, Jim, Nurse Dempsey." Gary called out to greet them before they had even entered the room. McCoy furrowed his brow as he glanced at the door. Sure enough, the door opened to reveal exactly who Gary had predicted it would.

"So, how's our 'star' patient?" Prima asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit, as she and Kirk entered the more private part of the med bay, where they had decided to sort of quarantine Gary until they could figure out what was up with him.

"Oh, Prima, good." McCoy said, gathering up the latest samples he had taken from Gary, as he turned to face her. "Could you do me a favor and check on Scotty? I'm worried he's overdoing it despite our orders to rest. I've got to get these samples to the lab for testing."

"Sure thing, Doc." She said, getting right on it.

"No change, yet." McCoy whispered lowly as he passed Kirk on his way out the door. "I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Yeah… thanks, Bones." Kirk said, nodding after the doctor.

"Well, I came to check on you, but it sounds like you're doing just fine, Gary." Kirk said, attempting a smile despite his increasing concern.

"Hey, you looked worried." Gary remarked, grinning. "Why so serious?"

"I've been worried about you ever since that night on Deneb IV." Kirk replied, smiling wryly. Gary laughed.

"Yeah, she was nova, that one." He said, grinning. That had been one wild night, all right. "Not nearly as many after-effects this time, except for the eyes. They kind of stare back at me when I'm shaving."

"Do you feel any different?" Kirk asked a bit more seriously.

"In a way, I feel better than I've ever felt before in my life." Gary mused thoughtfully. "It actually seems to have done me some good."

"How?" Kirk asked, furrowing his brow slightly.

"Well, I'm getting a chance to read some of that highbrow stuff Pike was always trying to get you hooked on." Gary replied, smiling wryly, as he turned the monitor of the small entertainment system connected to his bed so that Kirk could see the last page he had been reading before Dr. McCoy arrived for himself. Kirk chuckled at what he saw.

"You? Spinoza?" He asked, smiling wryly, as he glanced at the screen. This was supposed to be one of the greatest historical essays on ethics to date. Since when did _Gary_ read stuff like this on his down-time?

"Once you get into him, he's rather simple though." Gary commented boredly. "Childish, almost. I don't agree with him at all." He finished condescendingly. That worried Kirk. It showed a new, disturbing insensitivity towards ethics.

"Go on." Kirk told him, hoping to learn more, hoping Gary might say something to redeem that last remark.

"Hey, I'm trying to tell you I feel _fine_." Gary said, noticing what he thought was unfounded concern in his friend's eyes. "When do I go back on duty?"

"I'm gonna ask Dr. Dehner to keep you under observation for a while." Kirk told him after a moment, deciding he couldn't ignore the slight changes beginning to surface in his friend's personality in addition to those iridescent eyes.

"Oh, come on. With almost a hundred women onboard, you can do better than that, friend Captain." Gary replied, groaning in disappointment. "What about that sweet little Nurse Dempsey? I wouldn't mind being left alone with her." Kirk smirked. There was the Gary he knew.

"Believe me, for your own safety, that is one skirt you do _not_ want to chase." He told Gary, shaking his head. "As for Dr. Dehner, consider it a challenge."

"That doesn't seem very friendly." Gary commented as Kirk turned to leave. "_Didn't I say you'd better…_" he spoke in an echoing voice, causing Kirk to stop short and whip his head around to stare at him with uncertainty, startled. "… be good to me?" Gary finished in his normal tone of voice. For a moment the two men simply started at each other. Kirk turned and left the room, wondering what Gary was thinking, and what on earth was happening to him.


End file.
